Pump-out equalizing valve



Oct. 19, 1943. D. HANES PUMP OUT EQUALIZING VALVE Filed Spt. 21, 1940 am m "MW w mmw m m a u u w m u m s .l E 4 6 1 m M IIIIFE n/ 1 |I:\;y1 WuH x m N I I! i I A E Ilillfllfllll ATTORNEY I In operating a formationPatented Oct. 19, 1943 I Dean Hanes, buncan, Okla, assignor toHalliburton Oil Well: CementingfCQmp'any, Duncan,

I Com [Applieation 'Ihis invention relates to the. testing oi o i1Wells-and more particularly to the releasing of tools which havebecomestuckin a well hole,

l "-A'formation tester is a device designed tobe lowered on a'stringof'drill. pipe ortubing to the bottom of an. oil well for; the} purposeof obtaining a fiuid samplefrom an earth formation whichi is September21,ls roise iam 357,7931

-loam. ('o1. 1-s5-;1

p j w Y tio-n;of thgapparatus as will hel apparent the followingdescription, taken. in conneotion with the accompanying d{r'awin g,inwhich: i

- Figurei iisLan elevational; yiew of la ieonventional-rat hole typejformation testei' modi hed by v j the addition of apparatusiconstructediinaooordvance with the present invention:

suspected'of containing oil inicommercial quanti- I ties; One form oftesters is ShOWIIiin the U; S.

patent to Simmons, No. 1,930,987, granted Ooto-q ber-17;19,33.w I itester, it frequently Figure 2 is a longitudinalgsectional uiewl'of ape,paratus incorporatedinlthearrangement of Fig.1

happens. that aftertheiatester' valvehasi been opened: and the fluidsample has passed up into a the: drill string or tubing, the resultantdownward force .on the packer so great that the packer cannot beliftedaway from the rat hole without grave'risk of breaking or at leastdamaging the supportingstring'; Heretofore, when has beenneoes sary toopenthe tester valve and pump-i fluid down thro'ughthe string in'ordertoI apply "an upwardlyacting force-to the bottom of the packer "of'suffici'ent magnitude to overcome the. excessive downwardli actingforce exerted by the column of' 'mud'. Such an expedient,

though effective to release the tool, results inloss Y ofthe sample:

- It has previously been trotted, an the pat ent to Ziegler, No;2,201,28-1,'=-fo'r example, to 'provide-a valved by pas's fortlit packer'by'ineans'" of which thefiuid p res'sure' abov'eand belowthe same couldbe equalized after closing the testervalve. ,While such an 'e, 'edientis of value, it' is not always sufficient "to bringfabjout a release ofthe B k r.-

such a condition has been" encountered; it often andconstructed in.acoordanoewith the'fintent'ion and; showing" the parts in'onej operativeposition;

v Figure 3 is alongitudinal view-'of the apparat of Figure gz.showingtheparts in another erative position; 7

Referring to the drawing in detail, the, formation tester illustrated inFi ure l;'1 corriprises a string. of pipe l vwhich extends upwardlyltothe I derrick .floona Valve structure like that of, Sir'nrnons patentreferred vabove, operative by the pipe, a conical or rat hole packer 3and aperforated intake pipe 4. M In addition, the structure of Figure 1includes, as e/e1 eonrponent, a plunger type pump 5 interposed betweenth valve Land thepacker. 3 'and illustrated infde ail in Figures 2 "and8, Inother words, thed e5 shown insidejelei/ation inFigure lanolindetailed vcrossse 'otion in Figures 2 and z 3' is incorp grated in atest stringfllik that ofthe fsimniqns patent describedhere 'Thefprirnary object of thei present invention .is

to'provide vrjneans which will'ln'ot only pennitjgfl'uid to bypass thepacker and equalize the pressure, but which will also actually causethe-fluid press urelbeneath the packer tobe greate above, it,, wit houtloss ,o'f'the' sample It, is afurther oblect 'toi'pr'ovidelj means forexerting fluid pressure beneath a packer at the same .5

time that tension is taken in the drill pipe or tubing tending to liftthe packer.

It. is sun another ob jeot-o f the invention to provide meansforfmultiplying' the Lifting force 1 transmitted to aipacker byhydraulic l rneans,

whereby a mechanical advantageisfobtained and hen tha r ed d wi hou ll'i th samp e'- MT "thep mp15i m 0y .ipfll f 1115 rfs v i sure in the,rat hole, Su icient to pYercorne the hydrostatic head (if inlld fon thepacket andbreak the paoker is more easily 'g'iislodged in the gyent itvhas becomestlick inthe'wellv' Other objects and advantages, reside inoertai'n novel features of the arrangement and construe- ,rat 11016;;

',knownt xthpse,skilled in the art and will 7 As; previously i 1 entioneabfl ub tw e the tester elv t an thep eri-Y fe enq in m ralo 6 iden i esth main borehole which,extends iallithe way tofl the ground levelandwielpnce numeral l identifiesja The operation of a tester-aisxwell of fld .h i-v e n a enxomlithe "fo mat on a id the 'gripfof the formation onthe'paoker fhe solution of the problem,;according tothe preselntinventiod resides in soi designing the purnpi; thatmudwor; other wellfluid is vdrawnjintio ithe pump andfforc'ed into the rat ho1e beneaththe packer .inurespo nse to an 7 thestringofjpipe.

, 5 v a will b understood that ththe except n of a": P m w n new w tbefg ne je jiiie which-this invention deals is that of enablingthe 01 139 2 0 ,o erco t e ironie tend n 9; Dr?- rvent is d m et f the g eraiteraisemp t at end the pump. l

:notupwardlyr 1 i 5 At this point 'it should be clear thatjas the.'val.ve is closed) ,7

numeral l2. The cylinder member I0 is an articulated structur comprisingparts [3,, i5, I6 and;

l'|--the latter constituting merely a spacer 0,1.

sub between the pump and upper end of the packer.

Plunger member cylindrical portion Ila of a diameter to fit slidably, asa'piston, in the bore of, the cylinder.

members l3, l4 and I5, and'atubular; cylindrical stem portion llb whichis integral withgportion,

- is down and the fluid sample is being admitted to the tubingthroughvalve 2.

Otherwise the fluid sample would be contaminated with mud l l comprises7 an Blbllgat d; 1

I l 11v and extends upwardly therefrom through the upper end of cylindermember l tlfbeingpacked of! by the gland, in the upper end of cylindermember I 3. Stem lb functions asa piston rod f aswell as a supportingmediumfor allparts below and is threaded at '18 for ngagement with thelower end'of the naive structure 2 (see Fig. l). The lower endpf the,plunger is threaded to engage a tubular sleeve member 32 whichreciprocates withthefplunger and functions, in conjunction with a gland3|", to prevent inflow of mud'to therrat' hole when the sampl is beingtaken "and also to enable pressure to be built up below the packer inexcess of the'pres'sure above thepacker.

.ti'ons of member are counterbored to receive packing rings 29 and 83.respectively, and'the mid-portion of member I! is provided with a largenumber of lateral openings 26 whichserve as intakeports through whichmud is taken into The plunger and cylinder members, jointly,

, deflne an annular space 23 which is the pressure chamber 0! the pumpinto which. mud is received through'intakeports 25 upon the downs'troke,of the plun er and from which mud is discharged A entering through theintake ports 26.

fllpon lifting'plunger member H a short distance above its lowermostposition, the openings 28 will come into registration with intak portho1es26 and mud will thereupon be admitted to chamber 23. The pressurebeing very high the chamber will fill rapidly and will be completelyfilled by the time the openings 28 have moved above" the intake portarea. Packing ring 29 serves to isolate openings 28 from the intakeports 26 when saidopenings 28are above said packingring; and whensuchisolation'has become effective during each upward stroke, the fluidin chamber 23 will be subjected to pressure which will cause it to beforced downwardly through discharge passageway 24 and check valvespacebelow check valve l2-which is in immedi- Cylinder, member Wisthreaded at both ends and "constitutes a, sub for interconnectingmembers l3 and IS. The upper andlower end porate communication with therat hole-and if the increase of pressure thus induced does not sufficeto dislodge the packer, the string is released and the plunger memberallowed to settle down. The combined weightyof the plunger,,valve 2 andtubing string, minus the weight of the displaced well fluid, istherefore brought to bear upon thefluid in the rat hole and this Weight,amounting to many thousands ofpounds bein distributed over a relativelysmall crosssectional 0 area, is capable of building up the rat holepressure accordingly-provided.the back-flow of fluid into-the formationdoes not greatly off-set the downwardly through a vertical passageway 245 upon the upstroke of the plunger. The discharge passageway 24terminates at the lower end of the plunger in a ball check valve [2whichjserves to permit the well fluid to flow downwardly but,

tubing string is lifted. mud from chamber; 23 is forcedinto the strinbelow valve 22v andthus added to the body of flu d whichis actinupdisplacernent of theirising plunger, pressure will increase ofpressure in the rat hole which would otherwise occur. If the formationis quite porous and the formation pressure relatively low, the rat hole;pressure will tend rapidly to diminish due to leakageinto the formation;but by reciprocating the plunger with som little rapidity, fluid can bepumped into the rat hole at such arapid ,wardlyion the packer and stringand tending to dislodge the packer. Andit will be evident that if thevolume of fluid'thus discharged from chamber, 23, is greater than-the.corresponding negative be added to the. fluid inthe rat hole duringeach 5 rise of the plunger. Otherwise the rathole pressure will drop,momentarily. to some extent durmg the rise f of ,the plunger, but fluid,wlll be addeclflto'that alreadyin therat holefand in the space withinthe string below valve 2 (which i0 Drilled downwardly from shoul der 22of j the plunger member and disposed along the periph- 0 rate as tobuild up the pressure before it can leak ofi through the formation.

'spline 35.

Aperture 2] extending longitudinally through the plunger member is apart of the passageway through which fluid from the rat hole flowsupwardly into the tubing string when the sample is being taken; and thebore 20 in stem llb is a continuation of the same passageway. When thetester valve 2 is closed, no fluid flows through thepassage 2|, nomatter how the plunger is manipulated.

To prevent the plunger from rotating relatively to thecylindermemberwhen the string is rotated to operate valve2, a slot 34 iscut in the plunger-which slot is engaged by a suitable In operating the,device, the tubing string I,

'with the several parts 2 to 5 inclusive attached eral edge of saidplunger member'are arplurality of holes 21. As many of these should beproto the lower end thereof, as shown in Figure l, are lowered into thewell. While suspended on the string and prior to striking bottom, thevalve 2 is closed. Upon reaching bottom the intake pipe 4 enters the rathole 1 and the conical packor 3 sets down on the shoulder of the rathole as illustrated. The parts in the pump assembly will then be in theposition shown in Figure 2. The weight of the plunger and. string arethus brought to bear upon the packer, causing it to be forced into therat hole, thus affecting a good seal between the main bore and the rathole, which seal is effective to exclude additional mud from the rathole and from the interior of the string.v Valve 2 is then opened bymanipulation of the string and the fluid in the rat hole will -move upthe string through valve 2provided there is suflicient formationpressure to cause the fluid to, rise. The fluid, if any, which risesabove valve 2 is the sample which it is desired to recoverand includesoil from the tested formation if there is oil present. When the samplehas flowed up into the string, the string is manipulated to close valve2 so as to entrap the sample in the string above said valve; and thestring is then lifted to remove the tester from the hole and to recoverthe sample.

Usually the packer can be lifted out of the rat hole without applying adangerous overload to the string even without the aid of pump 5; butoften the packer is so tightly wedged in the rat hole and thefluidpressure above the packer so much greater than that in the rat hole,that the force necessary to dislodge the packer is greater than thatwhich can safely be imposed upon the string. As the string is lifted thefirst time, the fluid pressure above and below the packer will beequalized by flow of liquid through ports 26, the passages 21, thechamber 23 and the passage 24. Assuming, however, that the packer is notimmediately dislodged in response to an upward pull applied to thestring, it will beapparent that,

by additional spudding of the string, fluid will be forced down fromchamber 23 through check valve I2 as the plunger rises. The superinducedpressure thus created may not in itself be enough to dislodge thepacker, but whatever its magnitude may be, it is over and above thatwhich would result from merely by-passing the mud from the main bore tothe rat hole, and represents a correspondingreduction in the tensionrequired to be taken in the string to dislodge the packer.

While only one embodiment of the invention has been shown and describedherein, it is obvious that various changes maybe made in the arrangementand construction of parts without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of the annexed claim.

The combination with a formation tester comprising a packer and atubular supporting string for said packer of a pump interposed betweensaid packer and said string, said pump comprising a cylinder member anda plunger member; one of said members being connected to said packer andthe other said member being connected to said string, said plungermember being reciprocable in said cylinder member and definingconjointly with said cylinder member a. pressure chamber, a fluiddischarge passageway extending from said pressure chamber through saidpacker to the underside of said packer, means defining a fluid intakepassagewayextend ing into said chamber for admitting fluid there-

